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PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


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ORATION, 


DELIVERED   BEFORE 


OTie  ^Xftlpfiit  mnion  Socfetg 


OF 


WXLLZAIVXS  COLLEaE, 


THE  EVENING  PRECEDING  THE  COMMENCEMENT. 


SEPT.  5,  1826. 


BY  JOHN  NELSON, 

I^IIMSTER  OF  LEICESTER. 


WORCESTER  : 
PRINTED   BY   WILLIAM   BIANNING. 


At  0.  Meeting  of  Toe  Adelphic  Union  Society  of  Williams  Col- 
lege, on  the  sixth  of  September,  1826 —  /" 

Voted,   That  A.  D.  Wheeler,   B.  Phinney,  and  J.  Ballard 
present  to  the  Rev.  John  Nelson  the  thanks  of  the  Society  ; 
for  his  Address,  and  request  a  copy  of  the  same  for  the  press. 

Jlttestj 

O.  TINKER,  Secretary. 


ORATION. 


IT  is  a  peculiar  happiness  to  find  myself 
again  in  the  presence  of  this  "  Alma  Mater," 
whose  memory  I  have  never  ceased  to  cherish, 
and  in  intimate  fellowship  with  so  many  of  her 
sons,  now  assembled,  under  the  appropriate 
name  of  The  Adelphic  Union.  There  is  one  re- 
flection, it  is  true,  which  throws  a  shade  of  mel- 
ancholy over  the  occasion.  Some,  who  were 
members  and  ornaments  of  this  Society,  I  well 
know,  are  sleeping  in  their  graves ;  and  many 
more  are  too  widely  scattered  to  be  re-assembled 
in  this  world. 

But  I  would  not  forget  that  I  am  called  to  a 
higher  duty  than  that  of  giving  expression  to 
those  personal  emotions,  which  the  present  hour, 
with  its  thousand  recollections,  is  so  busy  in  cre- 
ating. I  stand,  if  not  on  holy  ground,  yet  on 
that  which  has  been  most  piously  consecrated  to 
learning  and  religion.  I  have  the  honour  to  ad- 
dress an  association  of  men  whose  minds  have 
been  formed  in  the  halls  of  science,  and  whose 
lips  have  been  touched,  at  least,  with  Castalian 
dews. 


Perhaps  T  ought  to  apologize  for  saying,  in  this 
place^  that  learning,  by  which  I  mean  the  varied 
acquisitions  of  a  cultivated  intellect,  is  pre-emi- 
nently the  gift  of  God — a  portion  of  the  Divine  in- 
tellio-ence  infused  into  an  earth-born  creature — 
an  engine  of  power,  fitted  and  designed  to  act 
beneficially  on  whatever  mass  of  human  beings 
falls  within  the  circle  of  its  influence. 

\yhat  if  this  gift  has  sometimes  been  pervert- 
ed to  unworthy  purposes  ?  What  if  it  has  been 
brought,  in  different  ages,  into  a  most  unnatural 
alliance  with  magic,  astrology,  and  superstition? 
What  if  the  priests  of  Egypt,  the  brahmins  of 
Hindostan,  and  the  monks  of  Romcf  have  each, 
in  turn,  made  it  the  instrument  of  establishing 
their  own  power,  and  of  holding  the  rest  of  man- 
kind in  spiritual  bondage  ?  What  if  it  has  been 
pressed  into  the  service  of  infidelity,  and  made, 
unwillingly,  to  supply  the  weapons  of  its  unholy 
warfare  against  the  religion  of  Christ?  What  if 
it  has  given  a  magic  charm  to  a  genius  like  By- 
ron's, and  thus  become  the  vehicle  of  conveying 
far  and  wide  tiie  poison  which  rankles  in  the 
dark  and  misanthropic  bosom  ?  These  instances 
of  the  abuse  of  learning  only  show  its  power,  and 
its  capabilities  of  blessing  mankind,  when  per- 
mitted to  act,  not  in  alliance  with  unholy  pas-^ 
sions,  but  Avith  the  pure,  the  generous,  and  the 
godlike  spirit  of  Christianity.  The  names  of  an 
Erasmus^  whose  writings  added  lustre  to  genius, 
and  at  the  same  time  prepared  the  way  for  the 
master  spirits  of  the  Reformation  to  enter  suc- 
cessful) v  on  the  field  of  their  labours, — of  a  Ba^ 


5 

con,  whose  fearless  researches  into  the  arcana  of 
nature  dissolved  the  death-like  spell  of  the  an- 
cient philosophy, — and  of  a  JYetvton,  whose  intel- 
lect soared  aloft  among  the  orbs  of  heaven,  or 
descended  to  the  centre,  to  ascertain  the  laws 
which  govern  this  material  universe. — These, 
and  a  host  of  others,  suggest  to  us  at  once  exam- 
ples of  powerful  intellect  and  splendid  acquisi- 
tions, that  were  made  to  act  with  the  best  effect 
on  the  highest  interests  of  man.  They  blessed,  at 
the  same  time  they  ennobled  the  species  that  pro- 
duced them.  Much  of  their  light,  indeed,  was 
borrowed  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness ;  but, 
on  this  account,  it  did  not  less  adorn  or  beautify 
the  moral  creation  on  which  it  cast  its  blended 
beams. 

What  important  improvement  in  the  intellec- 
tual, social,  or  moral  state  of  man  has  ever  been 
carried  forward  without  the  powerful  aid  of 
learning  ?  Will  it  be  said,  that  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel  by  illiterate  fishermen  furnishes  an 
instance  ?  My  reply  is,  that  instance  was  too 
manifestly  supernatural  to  be  adduced  as  a  pre- 
cedent; for  there,  miracles  took  the  place  of  ed- 
ucation, and  the  endowments  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
more  than  supplied  the  defects  of  learning. 

It  is  much  more  pertinent  to  inquire  how  Mar- 
tin Luther  and  his  immortal  coadjutors  could 
have  withstood  the  usurpations  of  Rome,  if  tliey 
had  not  been  furnished  with  learning,  to  con- 
found the  subtleties  of  her  partizans,  to  convey 
to  a  beniglited  populace,  in  their  own  vernacu- 
lar tongue,  the  oracles  of  God,  and  thus  to  throw 


6 

the  broad  light  of  heaven  on  the  abominations  of 
the  mjstical  Babylon. 

How,  too,  would  the  revolution  which  severed 
these  Colonies  from  the  mother  country,  and 
which  seems  designed  in  providence  to  exert 
such  a  mighty  influence  on  the  future  destinies 
of  the  world,  have  been  sustained  or  consum- 
mated, if  the  actors  in  that  drama  had  not  brought 
to  their  work  the  lights  of  learning  ?  There 
might,  indeed,  have  been  heard  the  murmurs  of 
conscious  oppression ;  but  had  there  been  no 
master  spirits,  imbued  with  Greek  and  Roman 
and  British  lore,  to  direct  that  raging  storm,  can 
it  be  doubted  that  the  genius  of  colonial  depen- 
dence would  still  brood  over  this  same  land, 
which  is  now  the  brightest  and  loveliest  inherit- 
ance of  freedom  ? 

The  untutored  intellect,  as  much  as  it  may 
astonish  us  by  its  native  grandeur,  usually  ex- 
pends its  force  in  savage  valour,  and  the  terrific 
deeds  of  the  warrior.  It  acts,  indeed,  upon  soci- 
ety; but,  like  the  tornado,  is  followed  by  a  track 
of  desolation;  or,  like  the  mountain  torrent,  it 
rushes  down  with  nature's  ruins.  But,  with  the 
full  advantages  of  scientific  and  moral  culture, 
the  tornado  is  changed  into  the  healthful  breeze 
of  morning,  and  the  mountain  torrent  into  the 
gentle  stream  which  spreads  beauty  and  fertility 
over  the  face  of  nature. 

It  is  a  remark,  however,  which  experience  fully 
warrants,  that  the  influence  of  learning  and  of 
learned  men  upon  any  age,  depends,  essentially, 
upon  the  circumstances  of  Lhat  age.     And  I  have 


thought  it  might  meet  the  demands  of  the  oc- 
casion, and  serve,  perhaps,  to  quicken  schol- 
ars to  greater  dihgence,  if  we  should  glance  at 
some  of  the  peculiar  advantages  of  the  present 
above  any  former  age,  both  for  calling  into  vig- 
orous action  the  powers  of  the  human  mind, 
and  for  diffusing  over  society  the  benefits  of 
useful  knowledge. 

But  a  few  centuries  have  gone  by,  since  the 
intellectual  energies  of  man  were  paralyzed  by 
superstition.  The  little  learning  which  existed 
in  the  world  was  almost  exclusively  confined  to 
the  cells  of  the  monastery ;  and  it  was  there 
clogged  and  almost  stifled  by  the  jargon  of  the 
schools,  by  a  philosophy  as  remote  from  utility 
as  it  was  from  common  sense.  The  church,  then 
in  the  full  exercise  of  her  proud  domination, 
maintained  a  much  sterner  censorship  over  the 
opinions  than  over  the  morals  of  men.  To  think, 
to  speak,  or  to  write,  except  according  to  her 
absurd  dogmas,  was  a  deadly  heresy.  Thus  all 
the  fountains  of  learning  were  dried  up  or  pol- 
luted. No  channels  of  communication  were 
open,  or  none  which  could  convey  the  health- 
ful waters  to  any  considerable  portion  of  socie- 
ty. If  a  powerful  genius  sometimes  broke  away 
from  their  restraints, — if  a  Gallileo,  borne  on- 
ward by  the  energies  of  his  mind,  was  able  to 
send  forth  a  purified  vision  over  the  works  of 
God,  and  settle  on  an  immutable  basis  the  true 
theory  of  the  universe,  he  was  made  to  pay  dear- 
ly for  the  rashness  of  his  discoveries  in  the 
gloomy  prison  of  the  inquisition.     At  the  same 


8 

time,  the  despotism  of  civil  rulers  concurred  with 
the  superstition  of  the  priesthood  to  keep  man- 
kind in  ignorance,  or  at  least  to  prevent  that  dif- 
fusion of  knowledge   vi'hich  might  endanger  the 
foundations  of  their  own  authority.     There  was 
a  jealous  eye  to  watch,  and  a  strong  arm  to  pun- 
ish the  presumption  of  any  one  who  should  dare 
to  advance  opinions,  which,  by  any  construction, 
might  be  deemed  incompatible  with  the  divine 
right  of  Kings,  or  the  dominion  of  the  Roman  See. 
This  gloomy  and  blighting  despotism  presided  in 
the  halls  of  learning,  and  followed  with  its  terrors 
the  solitary  author  to  the  retirement  of  his  study. 
A  school  for  general  education  would  then  have 
been  deemed  the  greatest  of  all  evils,  unless  we 
except  the  reading  of  a  bible,  or  the  offering  of 
a  prayer  in  a  language  which  the  supplicant,  by 
any  possibility,  could  understand.     But  in  the 
present  age,  by  the  operation  of  causes  which  I 
have  not  time  to  enumerate,  society  has,  in  a 
great  measure  outgrown  this   intellectual   bon- 
dage.    Mind,  to  a  wide  extent,  has  asserted  her 
unalienable  rights,  and  now  walks  forth  in  the 
majesty  and  strength  of  her  own  freedom.     Not 
that  superstition  or  despotism  are  driven  from 
the  earth — not  that  Rome  has  become  truly  rec- 
onciled to  the  progress  of  knowledge — not  that  ' 
the  potentates  of  Europe,  now  in  alliance,  and 
for  objects  whose  turpitude  can  be  equalled  by 
nothing  but  the  impiety  of  calling  them  Holy,  are 
tolerant  of  the  spirit  and  improvements  of  the 
age;  but  the  spirit  and  improvements  of  the  age 
have  become  too  powerful  for  them. 


9 

In  the  more  favoured  portions  of  Europe,  and 
in  our  country,  especially,  the  man  of  letters  is 
left  free  to  range  over  the  field  of  his  labours, 
unappalled  by  the  mitre  or  the  crown.  The 
fountains  of  education  are  now  open — the  press 
is  free,  and  comparatively  few  barriers  to  knowl- 
edge remain,  except  the  limited  capacities  of  the 
human  understanding.  There  are  powerful  stim- 
ulants also  to  excite  and  animate  the  scholar  in 
his  intellectual  pursuits.  The  actors  of  the  pres- 
ent age  have  so  far  outgrown  their  pupilage  as 
to  take  the  great  interests  of  society  into  their 
own  hands.  They  have  chosen,  in  a  measure,  to 
be  the  arbiters  of  their  own  destiny,  to  think  and 
to  act  for  themselves.  Hence  talents  and  mental 
endowments  are  brought  into  use,  and  have  be- 
come a  passport  to  thoso  stations  of  honour  and 
of  influence,  which  were  once  monopolized  by 
the  privileged  orders. 

But  this  is  not  the  only  change  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  age  favourable  to  learning  and  the  in- 
fluence of  learned  men.  Thq  energies  of  societv 
are  not  now  as  formerly  expended  in  the  feats  of 
chivalry  and  the  profession  of  arms.  The  feudal 
lord,  who  could  neither  read  nor  write,  but  who 
gloried  in  the  bloody  trophies  of  an  ancestry  as 
proud  and  as  ignorant  as  himself,  or  in  the  success 
of  liis  own  prowess  against  a  rival  chieftain,  has 
given  place  to  the  truer  nobility  of  intellect.  The 
age  has  transferred  its  honours  from  the  warrior  to 
the  scholar.  It  has  decided  that  mind  shall  bo 
the  measure  of  the  man.  and  not  the  strength  of 
2 


10 

his  arm.  The  youth  is  awakened  to  action  by 
the  rewards  of  scientific  and  Hterary  excellence, 
not  by  the  meteor  of  military  renown.  To  think, 
has,  at  length,  become  more  honourable  than  to 
light. 

The  learning  of  the  age,  too,  is  much  relieved 
from  the  authority  of  names,  and  from  its  blind 
veneration  for  long  established  opinions.  As  it 
has  increased  in  strength  and  stature,  it  has  in- 
creased also  in  independence.  One  system  is 
not  retained  because  it  is  ancient,  nor  is  another 
set  aside  because  it  is  new.  Innovation  is  no 
longer  dreaded  as  dangerous,  nor  is  error  deem- 
ed sacred  because  it  has  long  been  maintain- 
ed. The  age  has  detected  imposition,  and  is 
resolved  to  take  nothing  more  upon  trust.  It 
demands  arguments  and  reasons  instead  of  au- 
thorities. Every  new  discovery  is  sure  to  be 
attended  to,  and  ultimately  to  stand  or  fall  on 
its  own  merits. 

This  spirit  of  independent  inquiry,  it  is  true, 
has  run  into  some  excesses.  In  religion,  espe- 
cially, it  has  touched,  with  an  unhallowed  hand, 
the  sanctities  of  revealed  truth ;  and,  in  some 
cases,  set  up  the  arrogance  of  reason  above  the 
oracles  of  God.  But  we  have  no  fears,  that  ei- 
ther learning  or  religion  will  suflfer,  in  the  end, 
l>ora  this  spirit  of  the  age ;  for  truth  stands  on 
her  own  immoveable  basis,  and  asks  no  indul- 
gence but  the  opportunity  of  making  good  her 
claims. 

The  learning  of  the  age,  too,  is  more  practical 
than  formerly,  and  more  readily  accommodates 


IJ 

itself  to  the  business  of  life.     It  no  longer  sits  as 
a  recluse  in  the  cloisters  of  a  convent,  nor  struts 
forth  in  the  drapery  of  the  schools  merely  to  be 
admired,  nor  displays  its  pedantry  in  massy  fo- 
lios, designed  more  to  perpetuate  the  fame  of 
their  authors  than  to  benefit  mankind.     The  age 
has  made  the  discovery,  and  it  is  a  most  impor- 
tant one,  that  learning  is  not  incompatible  with 
common  sense,  and  that  it  loses  nothing  of  its 
dignity  by  being  made  subservient  to  what  is  use- 
ful,    it  has  at  length  come  home  to  the  business 
of  men.     It  acts  directly  and  powerfully  on  every 
department  of  human  industry.     It  follows  out 
life  in  all  the  details  of  its  occupation.     It  enters 
the  mechanic's  shop,  and  goes  with  the  agricul- 
turalist to  the  labours  of  the  field.     It  gives  new 
beauty  to  nature,  and  new  perfection  to  art.    And 
last,  though  not  least,  the  learning  of  the  age  en- 
joys peculiar  advantages  for  the  diffusion  of  its 
benefits. 

There  was  a  time,  when  the  productions  of  ge- 
nius could  be  communicated  to  mankind  only  by 
being  read  to  some  popular  assembly,  or  by  such 
an  expense  of  time  and  labour  in  transcribing, 
that  the  rich  only  could  procure  a  copy.  But 
now,  by  the  astonishing  improvements  in  the  art 
of  printing,  the  press  has  become  a  medium 
through  which  the  thoughts  and  discoveries  of 
the  learned  may  be  made  to  act  on  the  whole 
mass  of  the  reading  community.  The  creations 
of  any  one  mind  are  easily  brought  in  contact 
with  a  million  of  other  minds.  The  writinsrs  of 
the  learned  are  only  to  be  committed  to  the 


12 

press,  and  they  become,  at  once,  a  common  prop- 
erty and  a  common  benefit. 

It  is  a  circumstance,  too,  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance as  it  respects  the  diflusion  of  knowledge, 
tliat  men  of  letters  have  far  more  intercourse  now 
than  in  any  former  age.  The  business  of  trans- 
lating^ so  little  understood  and  so  rarely  prac- 
tised by  the  ancients,  has  overcome,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  chief  barrier  to  such  intercourse, 
diflference  of  language.  At  the  same  time,  the 
progress  of  navigation  has  brought  distant  na- 
tions comparatively  near  to  each  other,  and  cre- 
ated a  thousand  facilities  for  interchanging  the 
sympathies,  the  labours,  and  improvements  of 
learned  men.  Literary  journals  multiplied  and 
increased  a  thousand  fold — books  on  all  sub- 
jects, whether  moral,  literary  or  scientific,  pass 
irom  nation  to  nation,  as  if  distance,  and  geo- 
graphical limits,  and  diversities  of  tongues  were 
abolished  together.  Let  the  thoughts  of  a  pow- 
erful mind  be  put  on  paper — let  that  paper  pass 
through  the  press — let  the  multiplied  copies 
u'hich  are  thus  produced  be  committed  to  the 
rapid  circulation  of  the  post-office, — and  a  whole 
continent  will  feel  its  influence  in  a  shorter  pe- 
riod than  Mas  once  occupied  in  transcribing  a 
single  copy  of  Homer's  Iliad.  In  the  mean  time, 
this  same  production,  if  it  bear  the  stamp  of  dis- 
tinguished merit,  is  conveyed  on  the  wings  of 
commerce  to  distant  nations,  and  is  soon  added 
to  the  general  stock  of  human  intelligence. 

But  I  must  dwell  no  longer  on  this  animating 
theme.    If  so  hasty  a  view  of  the  happy  auspices 


13 

of  the  age,  as  it  respects  the  great  cause  of  hu- 
man improvement,  shall  awaken  in  the  minds  of 
scholars  a  sense  of  obligation,  in  any  measure 
proportioned  to  their  advantages,  I  shall  thus 
far  have  accomplished  my  object.  And,  notwith- 
standing the  greater  demand  for  labour  and  lite- 
rary enterprize,  which,  it  must  be  confessed, 
these  advantages  bring  with  them,  I  deem  it  a 
privilege  to  live  in  such  an  age,  and  to  partici- 
pate in  its  toils  as  w^ell  as  in  the  glory  of  its 
achievements. 4  It  awakens  a  feeling  of  exulta- 
tion, not  unmixed,  I  hope,  with  gratitude,  that 
our  lot  has  fallen  in  a  period  of  the  world  so  fa- 
vourable, beyond  all  former  example,  for  impart- 
ing vigour  and  activity  to  the  human  mind,  for 
augmenting  the  stock  of  human  inteUigence,  and 
for  diffusing  over  the  whole  face  of  society  the 
benign  influences  of  that  intelligence. 

I  deem  it  a  privilege  too,  to  live  in  such  a  country^ 
as  well  as  in  such  an  age — a  country  respecting 
which  it  is  no  idle  boast  to  say,  the  light  of  heav- 
en shines  not  upon  another,  in  which  these  ad- 
vantages are  so  richly  enjoyed.  But  it  is  a  truth, 
which,  if  it  were  possible,  I  would  utter  with  a 
voice  that  should  reach  every  seminary  of  learn- 
ing, and  thrill  through  the  multiplied  departments 
of  every  profession,  that  the  preservation  of  all 
that  is  dear  to  the  patriot  or  the  scholar,  in  the 
circumstances  of  our  country,  depends,  under 
God,  on  the  healthful  vigour  of  that  undefined 
but  powerful  agent  which  we  denominate  public 
sentiment.  This  is  the  vital  principle,  the  living 
and  animating  soul  of  our  body  politic.     And  to 


14 

sustain  this,  to  direct  and  carry  forward  its  ener- 
gies, creates  the  largest  demand  on  the  efforts  of 
learned  men.  Theirs  is  the  prerogative  and  the 
high  responsibility  of  guarding  the  interests  of  a 
Republic,  which  is  fast  expanding  on  every  side, 
and  growing  up  to  a  stature  whose  magnitude 
astonishes  mankind.  Here,  if  any  where,  then, 
is  a  call  for  the  most  active  exertion  on  the  part  of 
scholars.  The  vastness  of  the  objects  which  en- 
gage attention,  the  boundless  scope  which  is 
given  for  every  species  of  intellectual  effort,  and 
the  unexampled  facilities  which  are  furnished 
for  infusing  light,  and  truth,  and  virtuous  senti- 
ment into  the  mass  of  the  community,  are  suffi- 
cient, one  would  think,  to  rouse  the  most  slug- 
gish spirit. 

Let  the  monk,  whom  the  church  confines  to  a 
little  round  of  prescribed  duties — let  the  poet- 
laureate  of  a  corrupt  court,  whose  pension  is  the 
reward  of  his  sycophancy — let  the  patroned  pa- 
geant of  a  great  man's  table  repose,  if  they  will, 
in  learned  ease  ;  but  let  not  the  stigma  of  indo- 
lence attach  itself  to  the  scholars  of  a  Republic, 
to  gifted  men,  whom  the  providence  of  God  has 
inseparably  connected  with  the  destinies  of  their 
country — let  there  be  no  drones  here,  who  con- 
tent themselves  with  the  honours  and  emolu- 
ments of  the  hive,  without  labouring  for  the  pub- 
lic weal — let  there  be  no  minds  inactive,  no 
hearts  indifferent,  no  hands  idle,  when  the  growth 
of  a  nation,  from  its  infancy  to  its  manhood,  is  so 
rapid  as  to  create  an  unparalleled  demand  for 
intellectual  and  moral  culture. 


15 

Can  it  be  forgotten  that  every  seminary  of 
learninff,  from  the  lilghest  to  the  lowest,  from 
the  university  to  the  village  school,  demands  the 
most  liberal  patronage  and  the  most  eflScient 
aid  of  scholars  ?  By  increasing  and  purifying 
these  fountains,  we  send  forth  upon  society  pe- 
rennial streams  of  light  and  of  intelligence — we 
produce  the  greatest  amount  of  good  by  the  least 
expense  of  means — we  bring  the  most  powerful 
moral  machine  to  bear  directly  and  beneficially 
on  all  that  is  good,  or  great,  or  interesting  in  the 
destinies  of  our  Republic. 

Or,  can  it  be  forgotten,  that  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  press,  too,  so  constantly  employed 
in  sending  forth  its  books  and  journals,  to  in- 
struct or  amuse  the  public  mind,  every  American 
scholar  may,  if  he  will,  contribute  to  the  common 
stock  of  improvement?  These  books  and  journals 
multiplied,  beyond  all  former  example,  will,  of 
course,  exert  an  immense  inlluence  upon  a  com- 
munity, where  they  are  soeagerly  sought  for  and  so 
promptly  read.  They  will  disseminate,  through 
the  whole  extent  of  their  circulation,  the  seeds 
of  life  or  the  seeds  of  death.  But,  while  through 
these  channels,  so  free  to  all,  we  may  hope  the 
instructions  of  wisdom  will  continue  to  flow,  it  is 
too  much  to  hope,  timt  the  salutary  streams  will 
be  unmixed  with  the  waters  of  pollution.  So 
long  as  the  press  is  free,  the  aspirant  for  office 
will  there  send  forth  the  disgusting  pretensions  of 
his  ambition,  or  the  ravings  of  his  disappoint- 
ment ;  and  tlie  apostle  ofinfidelity  will  there  as- 
sail all  that  is  sacred  in  religion,  and  all  tliat  ip 


16 

venerable  in  the  institutions  of  society ;  and,  at ' 
the  same  time,  unblushing  profligacy  will  there 
try  her  powers  of  enchantment  to  corrupt  the 
youthful  mind,  and  to  fix  upon  it  the  impress  of 
her  own  deformity.  Surely,  then,  every  patriot- 
ic and  every  Christian  scholar  will  feel  himself 
bound  by  no  ordinary  considerations  of  duty  to 
put  forth  his  utmost  strength,  that  he  may  turn 
back  this  tide  of  corruption — that  he  may  purify 
society  from  its  defilement — that  he  may  preserve 
the  healthful  tone  of  its  sentiments  and  feeling, 
by  throwing  upon  it  the  multiplied  efforts  of  ge- 
nius, guided  and  sanctified  by  religion,  and  ren- 
dered powerful  by  being  baptized  into  the  name 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

In  this  age,  and  in  this  country,  men  iciJl  read, 
and  let  them  read — God  forbid  they  should  not : 
but  1  call  upon  American  scholars  to  see  to  it 
that  our  literary  productions  are  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  shall  secure  the  soundness  of  the  body 
politic.  To  them  is  committed,  in  an  important 
sense,  the  guardianship  of  the  press;  and  tre- 
mendous will  be  their  responsibility,  if  found  un- 
faithful to  such  a  trust.  Posterity  will  demand 
of  them  a  fearful  reparation  for  the  injuries  that 
shall  result  from  their  negligence.  The  world 
will  point  them  out  as  the  unfait'iful  stewards, 
who  left  the  fairest  heritage  of  man  to  become  a 
prey  to  the  destroyer. 

But  there  is  another  consideration,  which  must, 
I  think,  address  itself  to  American  scholars  with 
no  ordinary  force.  Our  country,  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  forget,  is  the  great  exemplar  of  ration- 


17 

al  liberty.     This  richest  temporal  boon  of  Heav- 
en's munificence  to  man  was  long  the  object  of 
implacable  hostility  to  the  successive  dynasties 
of  the  old  world.     It  was  pursued  by  them,  with 
fire  and  sword,  through  every  vale,  and  over 
every  mountain  top,  till  no  retreat  was  left,  ex- 
cept that  little  island  to  which  we  owe  our  origin. 
There  the  scattered  puritans,  amid  wrongs  and 
sufferings  innumerable,  cherished  a  few  blighted 
germs  of  this  tree  of  political  and  social  life,  some 
of  which  Providence   designed   should  remain 
there  to  bless  a  coming  age ;  but  the  fairest,  the 
firmest,  and  the  best  was  borne  by  the  Mayflower 
to  the  rock  of  Plymouth,  and  planted  on  the  mar- 
gin of  a  boundless  wilderness;    and,  thanks  be 
to  God,  it  did  not  perish.     No  :  but,  watered  by 
the  tears,  and  consecrated  by  the  prayers  of  the 
pilgrims,  and  reared  up  as  by  the  hand  of  Heav- 
en, it  took  deep  root,  and  sent  forth  its  branches 
to  the  sea,  and  its  boughs  unto  the  river.     Or, 
to  drop  the  figure,  our  country,  in  the  progress 
of  two  centuries  only,  has  attained  to  a  magni- 
tude and  glory  which  astonishes  mankind.     And 
the  admiration  is  called  forth,  not  so  much  by 
the  extent  of  its  territory,  the  vastness  of  its  re- 
sources,  the  grandeur  of  its  natural  scenery,  or 
the  strength  of  its  arm,  as  by  the  developments 
of  that  liberty  which  breathes  through  all  her  in- 
stitutions, pervades  all  her  social  habits,  and  di- 
rects all  the  mighty  movements  of  her  resistless 
enterprize  and  her  boundless  prosperity. 

Such  an  example  is  of  greater  importance  to  the 
world,  toiling  and  groaning  under  the  usurpations 
3 


18 

of  a  false  religion  and  the  galling  yoke  of  despot- 
ism, than  I  can  find  language  to  express.  It  is  a 
sun  in  the  political  heavens,  whose  beams  do  and 
will  penetrate  through  the  impending  darkness. 
Already  has  it  acted  as  a  renovating  power  on 
the  southern  half  of  our  continent,  awakening  its 
provinces  from  the  long  slumber  of  colonial  bon- 
dage, and  leading  them  onward  to  freedom  and 
independence.  Already  has  it  sent  forth  its  in- 
fluence across  the  wide  waters,  to  electrify  the 
monarchies  of  Europe,  and  to  inspire  the  friends 
of  liberty  there  with  new  confidence  and  new 
hope.  1  trust  that  the  work  of  emancipation, 
thus  begun,  will  proceed  onward  and  onward, 
till  the  mitre  and  the  crown,  the  altar  of  super- 
stition and  the  throne  of  despotism  shall  crumble 
together  in  the  dust. 

But  whether  or  not  these  sublime  anticipations 
shall  be  realized,  depends,  essentially,  on  the 
example  which  our  country  is  now  exhibiting  to 
the  world.  This  is  the  last  and  the  great  expe- 
riment of  freedom.  This  is  the  argument  which 
is  to  refute  the  long  acknowledged  pretensions  of 
despotic  rule,  and  to  convince  mankind  that  free 
institutigns  alone  can  secure  to  them  their  high- 
est prosperity  and  their  truest  happiness.  But 
by  whom  is  this  example,  so  important  in  its  in- 
fluences, to  be  sustained  ?  By  whom  is  it  to  be 
carried  ibrward  with  increasing  majesty  and  pow- 
er, if  not  by  those  who  are  qualiiied  by  their  tal- 
ents and  learning  to  preserve  the  full  energy  ot 
that  lofty  tone  of  virtuous  freedom  m  which  if. 
originated  ? 


19 

f  call,  then,  upon  the  scholars,  upon  the  gifted 
men  of  our  Republic,  not  merely  by  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  not  merely  by  the  memory  of  an  ancestry 
^vho  laid,  in  blood,  the  foundations  of  their  em- 
pire, not  merely  by  their  regard  to  the  future  mil- 
lions who  are  to  inhabit  this  wide  continent — but 
by  the  wrongs  of  an  oppressed  world,  by  the  a- 
bused  rights  of  humanity,  by  whatever  is  odious 
in  usurpation  or  sacred  in  liberty,  to  guard  with 
unceasing  vigilance  the  momentous  trust  com- 
mitted to  them,  that  example  o{  free  institutions^ 
ivhose  silent  but  powerful  influence  seems  design- 
ed in  providence  to  become  the  genius  of  univer- 
sal emancipation.  I  call  upon  the  scholars  and 
learned  men  of  our  country,  to  bear  in  mind  that 
they  hold  a  most  important  relation  to  a  Repub- 
lic, on  whose  unexampled  prosperity  the  eyes  of 
mankind  are  fixed  with  intense  interest,  and  on 
whose  success  or  failure  depends  the  destiny  of 
unnumbered  millions  of  the  human  family. 

But  I  shall  not  feel  that  I  have  discharged  the 
duty  imposed  on  me,  on  this  occasion,  without 
calling  the  attention  of  scholars  to  the  still  higher 
and  more  sacred  obligations  Avhich  they  owe  to 
the  religion  of  the  gospel.  This  religion,  corrupt- 
ed and  perverted  as  it  doubtless  was  by  the  super- 
stition of  the  age,  was  still  the  only  guardian  of 
learning,  through  that  long  night  which  preceded 
the  Reformation,  and  it  has  been  its  best  protect- 
or and  its  most  efficient  ally,  in  every  subsequent 
age.  This  religion  was  the  principle  which  in- 
spired the  pilgrims  with  all  that  is  great  in  pur- 
pose, and  all  that  is  heroic  in  suflfering  or  in  atv 


20 

tion.  It  awakened,  sustained  and  consecrated 
their  matchless  eflforts;  and  it  armed  them  with 
that  tirmness  of  rersolution,  which  no  dangers 
could  appal,  nor  difficulties  overcome.  And  this 
religion,  from  the  time  the  first  knee  was  bent  on 
the  rock  of  Plymouth,  in  Christian  devotion,  to 
the  present  hour,  has  been  the  guardian  angel  of 
our  Republic  !  Her  ministry,  her  temples  of 
worship,  and  her  continued  influence  upon  our 
schools  of  learning,  are  the  mighty  springs,  the  all- 
powerful  causes  of  our  prosperity.  No  scholar, 
I  am  sure,  no  man, of  reading  and  reflection  will 
deny  this,  except  from  the  influence  of  a  heart 
that  has  been  poisoned  by  infidelity.  Suppose, 
for  a  moment,  that  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
should  be  blotted  from  our  heavens,  that  the  bi- 
ble should  be  abolished,  that  the  Sabbath  should 
be  converted  into  a  common  day,  that  the  tem- 
ple and  the  altar  sliould  sink  together;  and  sup- 
pose that  fifty  years  should  pass  over  us,  thus 
destitute  of  the  light  of  life, — and  who  can  think, 
M'ithout  shuddering,  on  what  must  then  be  the 
condition  of  our  country? 

But  we  feel,  perhaps,  that  there  is  no  reason 
to  apprehend  such  a  catastrophe.  In  New-En- 
gland, I  trust  in  God,  there  is  none.  But  turn 
your  eye  to  the  vast  territories  of  the  south  and 
the  west — mark  the  tide  of  population  that  is  roll- 
ing over  that  w'ilderness — contemplate  the  vil- 
lages, towns.  States,  and  I  might  almost  say  na- 
tions, wdiich  are  there  springing  up,  as  by  the  pow- 
er of  enchantment;  and  remember  that  these  mul- 
titudes compose  a  part  of  our  country — that  they 


21 

furnish  legislators  for  the  older  territories — and 
that,  hy  their  increasing  majorities,  they  will  soon 
give  a  decided  character  to  our  government. — 
Keep  in  view  all  this,  and  it  will  be  impossible 
to  doubt,  that  unless  we  send  forth,  with  this 
flowing  stream  of"  our  new  settlements,  the  heal- 
ing influences  of  the  gospel — unless  we  accom- 
pany them,  in  their  rapid  march,  with  Christian 
institutions,  a  flood  of  infidelity  will,  ere  long,  roll 
back  upon  us,  tainting  our  national  councils,  and 
extending  a  deleterious  influence  through  all  the 
ramifications  of  society.  Connected  as  the  parts 
of  our  Republic  are  by  a  common  bond  of  na- 
tional confederacy,  there  will  of  course  be  an  a- 
malgamation  of  character;  and  how  necessary  it 
is,  that  truth  and  righteousness  should  constitute 
the  predominating  ingredients,  I  surely  need  not 
labour  to  prove. 

As  patriots,  then,  bound  by  the  ties  of  gratitude 
to  a  pious  ancestry,  and  most  sincerely  desirous 
of  transmitting  unimpaired  to  future  generations 
our  invaluable  privileges,  every  American  schol- 
ar, if  not  lost  to  gratitude,  and  blind  to  the  source 
of  his  richest  blessings,  must  feel  himself  sacredly 
pledged  to  the  cause  of  our  holy  religion. 

And  there  is  still  another  consideration,  which 
•gives  additionalurgencytothishighest  and  noblest 
enterprize  of  learning,  for  which  we  now  plead. 

Christianity,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  aflirm,  is  the 
only  agent  which  will  be  able  to  terminate  the 
reign  of  despotism,  and  to  diffuse  over  the  earth 
the  blessings  of  peace,  of  good  government,  and 
of  rational  liberty.     Aside  from  this,  the  projects 


22 

of  statesmen  are  foolishness,  and  revolution  is 
like  the  movings  of  the  ocean  when,  it  casts  up 
mire  and  dirt. 

France  exulted  over  the  ruins  of  her  Ba&tile, 
demolished  the  throne  of  her  Bourbons,  and  sent 
forth  the  loud  notes  of  freedom.  But  France 
gained  no  valuable  object;  because  the  spirit  of 
the  gospel  did  not  pervade  her  councils,  nor  pu- 
rify the  elements  of  her  political  being.  There 
was  no  angel  of  the  covenant,  to  ride  upon  that 
whirlwind  and  to  direct  that  revolutionary  storm. 

Spain  needed  a  constitution,  but  she  needed  a 
bible  more.  She  could  not  profit  by  the  recent 
change  in  her  government,  because  her  energies 
were  paralized  by  remaining  darkness  and  su- 
perstition. Pour  upon  that  degraded  country 
the  light  of  the  gospel,  give  her  the  religion  of 
the  bible,  and  neither  the  cry  of  legitimacy  nor 
the  frowns  of  the  Holy  Alliance  will  be  able  to 
hold  her  in  bondage. 

History  authorizes  us  to  say,  that  the  march 
of  freedom  will  keep  pace  with  the  march  of 
truth.  Philosophers  may  dream — theorists  may 
publish  their  predictions,  and  statesmen  may  lay 
down  on  paper  their  mighty  schemes  of  improve- 
ment; but  never,  till  the  angel  flying  through  the 
midst  of  heaven  shall  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,  will  man  be  truly  free. 

But  the  hour  and  the  continued  exercises  of 
the  evening  remind  me,  that  the  audience  must 
already  seek  repose.  Thus  time  is  always  bear- 
ing us  onward  on  rapid  wings.  The  labours  of 
the  scholar,  as  well  as  of  the  man  of  ordinary  at- 


23 

lainments,  are  crowded  into  the  short  span  of 
human  life;  and  whatever  is  done,  for  ourselves, 
or  for  mankind,  must  be  quickly  done.  I  have 
said,  that  the  busy  and  excited  character  of  the 
age — that  the  great  and  still  growing  interests  of 
our  Republic — that  the  cause  of  liberty,  of  hu- 
manity and  religion,  press  upon  scholars  a  pow- 
erful call  to  duty.  And  surely,  minds  which  are 
duly  formed,  which  kindle  and  glow  by  the  in- 
spirations of  learning,  and  which,  in  any  measure, 
feel  the  more  sacred  intluence  that  breathes 
peace  on  earth  and  good  will  towards  men,  will 
not  be  insensible  to  such  a  call. 

Associates  of  the  Adelphic  Union !  we  have 
assembled,  on  this  truly  happy  occasion,  to  re- 
new the  covenant  of  our  sympathies  and  affec- 
tions, and  to  tender  another  pledge  of  fidelity  to 
this  venerable  seat  of  learning. 

Wherever  we  go,  and  in  whatever  sphere 
Providence  shall  call  us  to  act,  we  will  remem- 
ber Williams  College — we  will  remember  these 
halls  and  these  lecture-rooms,  in  which  our  minds 
received  their  best  endowments.  Whether  weal 
or  wo  attend  our  steps,  in  life's  dubious  pilgrim- 
age— whether  honours  gather  around  us,  or  our 
names  sink  into  forgetfulness,  we  will  remember 
these  scenes  of  our  youth — we  will  remember 
this  lovely  vale,  retired  from  the  noise  and  glare 
o^crowded  life,  and  surrounded  by  those  bolder 
wcfrks  of  nature,  which  seem  to  mark  out  the 
spot  as  a  retreat  for  the  muses,  and  as  fitted  for 
tlie  loftiest  conceptions  of  genius.  We  will  re- 
.niombor  fhcc^  Alma  Mater — In  all  thy  prosperity 


24 

we  will  rejoice,  and  in  all  thy  affliction  we  will 
be  sorrowful — we  will  engrave  thy  name  on  the 
palms  of  our  hands,  and  thy  honour  shall  be  sa- 
cred in  our  keeping. 

And  amid  the  solemn  as  well  as  joyful  recol- 
lections, which  crowd  upon  the  mind  at  this 
hour,  will  it  be  deemed  too  serious  to  invoke  for 
ourselves,  as  scholars  and  as  gifted  men,  that 
hallowed  influence  from  above,  which  shall  sanc- 
tify our  labours — which  shall  preserve  us  from 
the  allurements  of  pleasure,  the  cravings  of  av- 
arice, and  the  aspirings  of  ambition — and  which, 
when  the  scenes  of  earth,  its  grandeur  and  its 
loveliness  shall  fade  from  our  view,  and  these 
bodies  shall  become  kindred  dust  with  those  of 
our  brethren  whose  graves  we  have  moistened 
with  our  tears,  shall  raise  our  emancipated  spi- 
rits to  loftier  flights,  and  to  purer  and  holier 
conceptions,  in  the  paradise  of  God  ! 


;-•":;»<.■.■    ti 


